The William S. Richardson School of Law on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus hastopped the nation’s law schools as the "Best Environment for Minority Students," according to the latest 2014 rankings by The Princeton Review.

The Law School also placed third in the country for "Most Diverse Faculty" and fifth for "Most Chosen by Older Students," according to the newly released educational study.

The company also features Richardson Law School in the new 2014 edition of its book, “The Best 169 Law Schools,” published by Random House/Princeton Review and released on October 8, 2013.

“We recommend Richardson Law School as one of the best institutions a student could attend to earn a law school degree,” noted Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s Senior Vice President and Publisher. “We chose the schools we profile in this book based on our high regard for their academic programs and our reviews of institutional data we collect from the schools. We also solicit and greatly respect the opinions of students attending these schools who rate and report on their experiences at them on our 80-question student survey for the book."

Law Dean Avi Soifer said the Law School is gratified by its high rankings. He noted that, once again, there is recognition of the top quality education at the Richardson School of Law, as well as its student and faculty diversity and welcoming atmosphere for all students.

“We are very proud to celebrate diversity on an everyday basis,” Soifer noted, “but at the same time we proudly offer excellent teaching in first-rate practical courses, which range from business law through numerous topics about the law of Asia to civil rights and liberties, social justice and a wide variety of environmental issues.”

This is the second year in a row that the Richardson School of Law has been singled out for its embrace and welcoming of a diverse student body.

Last year a different publication, U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 National Diversity Index, also named Richardson first in the nation in terms of the likelihood of students encountering classmates from different racial or ethnic groups.

In these latest Princeton Review rankings, 10 of the 11 lists are based on surveys of 18,500 students attending the 169 law schools profiled, with an average of 109 students responding at each law school. The surveys were completed online with data from three academic years (2012-13, 2011-12 and 2010-11), asking law students for their views about their law school’s academics, student body and campus life, as well as about themselves and their career plans.

Richardson’s choice as best in the U.S. for minority students included comments from law students about the “friendly, supportive environment,” and other statements noting how students in recent classes “respect each other” and “quickly gelled.”

Publisher Franek notes that his publication does not rank the law schools hierarchically. “Each school in our books offers outstanding academics,” he said, pointing out that no single law school is "best" overall.

“We publish rankings in several categories and detailed profiles of the schools to give applicants the broader information they need to determine which school will be best for them,” Franek added.